The former England cricketer believes that Ashwin should have been playing the first Test.

Former England cricketer Graeme Swann has said that Ravichandran Ashwin could make it as a good overseas bowler, and said that he should have been playing in the first Test match of the series at Lord’s.

Speaking to BCCI.TV about Ashwin, Swann said, ‘’He hasn’t bowled enough overseas to be judged yet. When you’re used to bowling in India it is not easy to adjust quickly to bowling overseas. That’s because in India it is very easy to find the right pace to bowl at as a spinner as compared to these conditions. Since most wickets in India are pretty slow and low, even if you are a little wayward, you don’t get punished. In England and especially Australia, if you pitch it slightly short or wide, you get smashed. I’m sure Ashwin can bowl really well outside India because his record in India is fantastic. And if he can do it there he can do it anywhere.”

Swann also suggested that Ashwin should get batsmen to face him on English wickets, and ask their opinion on the balls they found difficult. “Since he’s not been playing so far, he has a good chance to work his way on the English wickets – go to the nursery grounds, get batsmen to face him, bowl different deliveries, vary his pace and ask the batsman, ‘alright, what works? What is easy and what feels dangerous’? That’s what I used to do. I’d take a batsman and tell him, ‘I’ll bowl you five balls. Tell me which one you did or didn’t enjoy facing. Tell me which one you didn’t give monkeys about’. Sometimes I realized that what felt better to me, was not necessarily what most batsmen found tough.’’, he said.

In the interview, Swann accepted that wickets in England were getting slower and more helpful for spinners, and wished he could still play, ‘’I wish I could still play. Watching the last game and this too, I wished more than anything else that I was out there playing instead of talking about the game. But it’s not meant to be.”, he said.

First Published on July 19, 2014 12:17 PM ISTLast updated on July 19, 2014 12:17 PM IST